The Marauder Of Habiganj

[Professor Mawla]

Today , I will relate an incident from 1976 where I shot the largest and heaviest of my 18 marauding cheetahs - The one nicknamed “ Habiganj er shontrash “ ( “ the scourge of Habiganj “ ) by the locals . I hope that it proves to be reasonably enjoyable for the other members of these forums .

Before I begin , I would like to verify that all the photographs used in this article are my personal photographs . I own exclusive rights to them and thus , they may not be reproduced without my permission .

Habiganj , Bangladesh . October , 1976

 

[Professor Mawla]

It was October 4 , 1976 when I was first assigned to supervise the building of a water tank in a tea estate , located in the Northern outskirts of Habiganj . The process would take our workers around two complete months . During this time , the owners told me that I could shoot two barking deer and two wild boar on each month at night . Considering how much I love(d) hunting and how much I enjoy(ed) the venison of wild game , I gladly took them up on their offer .

One night , I promised Joy and Rabbani ( his wife ) that I would bring them back a fine wild boar , which Rabbani intended to stuff and spit roast for serving at one of their family dinner parties . While they were certainly not poor by any means , no sensible person who eats pork would ever deny a large freshly shot wild boar which they were going to get for free . So I began to make preparations . That evening ( after the construction workers had gone back home for the night ) , I decided to have a go at a wild boar .

I was accompanied by a 25 year old man named Farid ( the assistant caretaker of the tea estate ) and at night , we decided to try finding a few wild boar near the stream which ran through the tea estate . My reason for bringing Farid along , was twofold :

A ) I needed someone who possessed a great deal of local knowledge about every nook and cranny of the tea estate and which parts of the tea estate were frequented by wild game .
B ) After shooting the wild boar ( some of which can usually weigh up to 137 kilograms in Bangladesh ) , I would need someone to help me carry the carcass back indoors .

I was carrying my Laurona 12 bore ( 2 3/4 inch chambers ) sidelock ejector side by side shotgun , which was loaded in the chamber of each barrel with an Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shell . Clamped to the fore end of my 12 bore , was a powerful six cell torchlight ( to provide illumination for my nocturnal shooting activities ) . In the breast pocket of my blue check cotton poplin dress shirt , I kept four extra Eley Alphamax LG shells . Farid had a hurricane lamp in his hands . He suggested that we try looking for the wild boars along a particular spot near the stream where a patch of wild rice was growing .


And thus , we were off . Cautiously following the stream , we both pressed forward until we found a small sounder of wild boars feeding on the wild grain . They were about 100 yards away from us , when we noticed them . Most of the wild boars were sows and sub mature animals . However , we caught sight of three large male wild boars . After observing them for roughly two minutes , I singled out the largest one which I wanted to shoot . Instructing Farid to put out the light of the hurricane ( in order to prevent the wild boars from noticing it and getting alerted as to our presence ) , we both crouched on the ground and slowly began to crawl towards the wild boars in order to close the range between them and us .


Once we got within ten metres of the sounder , I shouldered my 12 bore as I waited for my intended target to present a favorable shot . Leaping up , I switched on the six cell torchlight and took aim at the largest male wild boar . I did not even wait for him to turn and look at me . I instantly pulled the left trigger of my Laurona 12 bore . The fairly concentrated charge of LG slugs ( there were eight in an Eley Alphamax LG shell ) caught the wild boar right between the two shoulder blades and he dropped to the shot , lying motionless on the ground . The other wild boars ( caught by surprise ) quickly dispersed . Farid and I then , approached the downed wild boar . I instructed Farid to grab ahold of the hind legs while I went to grab ahold of the fore legs . All of a sudden that wild boar sprung back to life and began dashing away . We suddenly realized that he had not succumbed to my gunshot , at all . I desperately unslung my Laurona 12 bore from my shoulder , took aim at the fleeing wild boar and instinctively pulled the right trigger . The charge of LG slugs caught him in the rear hams , but he disappeared into the thick foliage .


Hurriedly removing the two empty LG shells from the chambers of my 12 bore , I reloaded the shotgun with two more Eley Alphamax LG shells and yelled at Farid to follow me while we went after the wounded wild boar . After about 15 minutes of searching through the thick foliage , we finally found the


wild boar . He was lying motionless under some neem plants . I cautiously approached him and poked the muzzles of my 12 bore into his right eye . No movement . He had finally succumbed to his injuries and had died under the neem plants . Looking around , I realized that we had reached the very edge of the tea estate .


I took out my carbon steel Case trapper folding knife and a roll of para cord from the pocket of my cream flannel dress trousers . Cutting off two large pieces of para cord , I handed one piece to Farid while I took the other . Farid lashed the hind legs of the wild boar together , while I lashed the front legs of the animal together . I told Farid to go and look around for a suitably heavy and large tree branch . This ; we would pass between the tied up hind legs and fore legs of the carcass so that we could carry it back inside , a little easier .

Five minutes later , Farid came back to me . He did not have any tree branch in his hands and was overwhelmed with fear . When I asked him what the matter was , he motioned me to follow him . This , I duly did . I soon discovered what Farid had found , which had terrified him speechless .

It was a human corpse . A little boy ; perhaps seven years old . The boy’s scalp was almost completely ripped off his skull . Both eyes had been gouged out and both ears had been ripped off . His rib cage was torn open and his lungs were pierced . He was disemboweled and his intestines were falling out of the large lacerations in his stomach and abdomen . The boy’s corpse was missing flesh from both the buttocks . Just by observing the wound patterns on the corpse , I knew that there is only one thing which could do this to a human being - a cheetah . And the fact that both the buttocks were missing flesh , told me that this was no ordinary cheetah but a marauder .

Laurona 12 bore sidelock ejector side by side shotgun belonging to the author.

Eley Alphamax LG shells belonging to the author .

 

[Professor Mawla]

The next day , panic had spread all across the area around the tea estates in Habiganj . The little boy was the son of one of the local rice farmers . Upon seeing his corpse , the boy’s parents had completely broken down psychologically . While both parents had broken down into tears , his mother was actually experiencing a difficulty in breathing due to her extensive crying .

When I was called to the head office of the Habiganj Forest Guards to give my statement about how I had come across the boy’s corpse , the Forest Guards gave me a piece of information which came as a bit of a surprise to me . They were well aware of the presence of the marauding cheetah , for at least the last one month . The marauder had fatally mauled and eaten at least 13 people so far ( which they knew of ) . It was quite active around all of the tea estates and farms in this part of Habiganj . When I asked why the Forest Guards had not publicly declared the presence of a marauder in the area , they claimed that they were acting on the orders of local tea estate owners and that local bureaucrats were involved . As harvest season was coming , local tea estate owners did not want their employees to panic and stop coming to work .

After giving my statement , I was getting ready to leave the head office when the senior Forest Guard called me back . Knowing that I was a hunter who had already shot a few marauding cheetahs in the recent past , he made me an offer - 500 Taka if I could get rid of the marauder . I told him that I would do it for 600 Taka , because I needed some extra expenses to hunt down this marauder . The Forest Guard asked me what kind of extra expenses I was talking about . I explained that a cheetah which has fed on more than seven people , cannot be drawn in by using animal baits . I would need to purchase a human corpse from a local medical college , in order to use it as bait . The Forest Guard agreed to pay me the desired amount . And thus , I was after yet another marauder .

I went back to my apartment and used the rotary telephone to give Joy a call . I asked if he would like to assist me in hunting down another marauder . Being my good friend , Joy ( like always ) readily agreed and asked me how he could help . I asked him if he could manage a healthy human corpse from some local medical students ( who used to purchase them as cadavers ) . Joy told me that he would need one day , but that he would arrange the corpse .

I then , went to my Ford pickup truck and decided to take a tour around the different locations where the corpses of the marauder’s victims had been found . The senior Forest Guard had provided me with a detailed map which had all the locations of the kill sites marked in red . I spent the whole day studying these sites which were concentrated across a very particular area . For my self protection , I took along my Laurona 12 bore which was loaded with Eley Alphamax LG shells . You never knew if you could cross paths with wild boars , wild dogs , Asian sloth bears or a marauding cheetah ( especially in this case ) . As I observed this area , I noticed one very serious problem .

There were countless small caves in this area , any one of which could be a perfect hiding spot for a cheetah . The trees around this area were all covered with scratch marks ; a clear indication that at least one cheetah had been passing through this area and using the trees to clean their claws . I also found several pug marks of a cheetah around this entire area , some of which were leading into the caves . While I contemplated going into the caves and straightaway commencing my search for the marauder ( especially since I was armed with my Laurona 12 bore ) , I eventually decided against it . Rather than tempt fate and risk getting ambushed , I rationalized that it would be a wiser approach to draw the marauder out towards me .

This , I was determined to do the following day .

GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW

The Author standing with the victim of a marauder ( in this case , a Royal Bengal tiger ) . December 23, 1976

GRAPHIC CONTENT ABOVE

 

[Professor Mawla]

The next afternoon , Joy and I met at my apartment . He had brought along the fresh human corpse , as promised . It belonged to a rickshaw driver who had recently been killed during a traffic accident , after being struck by a lorry . We packed the corpse ( which was wrapped in a white cotton sheet ) into the back of my pickup truck and also took a set of sharp heavy butchering knives locally forged from the 5160 spring steel from truck leaf springs , some carpenter’s tools and a coil of heavy rope . We took three arms with us :
* My Laurona 12 bore sidelock ejector
* My BRNO .22 LR ( Long Rifle ) bolt action rifle
* Joy’s FN Browning A-5 12 bore ( 2 3/4 inch chamber ) semi automatic shotgun .

We took the following ammunition with us :
* Six rounds of Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shells
* 20 rounds of locally reloaded 2 3/4 inch LG shells
* 50 rounds of Eley Rifle Club .22 LR 40 grain solid ammunition

After that , we both set off to the area which lay right in the centre of all of the marauder’s kill sites . Accompanying us , were two of Joy’s and Rabbani’s servants It was roughly 4:45 PM , when we had arrived at the area . Joy ordered his servants to construct a tree blind on the top of one of the large banyan trees . Mean while , I took to preparing the human corpse as bait . Joy ( who never really got used to the sight of dismembered human corpses , even during the war ) decided to supervise the building of the tree blind , while I rolled up the sleeves of my green check cotton poplin dress shirt and put on a canvas apron . Taking the set of butcher knives , I began to take the corpse apart .

Making circular incisions across the bone and then slicing downwards , I first removed the meat from the thighs and upper arms . Then , I removed the meat from the fore legs and fore arms . I then , made a long incision across the stomach and removed the intestines and liver . Cutting the rib cage open , I pulled the ribs apart and removed the heart and lungs . Then , I took the head off from the corpse . I told Joy’s servants to smear the branches of the nearby trees with the organs from the corpse . However , they were hesitant to touch the organs of a human corpse because they felt squeamish about it . So I had to go and go it . Then , I dangled the branches of the nearby trees with the intestines of the corpse . Joy fetched a folding plastic table from the back of my pickup truck , opened it and placed it roughly five metres away from where the tree blind had been built . I picked up the head and all of the human meat and laid it in the centre of the folding table .

We instructed Joy’s servants to go back to the town and to return to this area by midnight . By then , we expected to bait and kill the marauder . Joy and I then climbed up the tree blind and began to eat our lunch - a couple of toasted corned beef sandwiches which Rabbani had made for us , washed down with a couple of bottles of chilled mango juice . Looking down to check the bait , I observed that it was undisturbed ( barring a massive swarm of flies which was naturally drawn by the smell of the decaying meat ) . But then Joy pointed at something . It was a pack of wild dogs ( half a dozen of them , to be precise ) which were approaching the folding table . They had been enticed by the smell of the human meat .

We could not allow the dogs to eat the bait . Doing so , would jeopardize our prospects of baiting the marauding cheetah . So we had to shoot and kill the dogs . Joy and I debated as to what was the best weapon for killing these wild dogs efficiently . I did not wish to use my Eley Alphamax LG shells , because I was ( at the time ) beginning to run low on my supply of these shells . I only had six with me at the time , and I had brought all of them with the intention of using them against the marauding cheetah . Joy had a good stock of locally reloaded LG shells ( having brought 20 of them with him ) . They could easily take out a wild dog , but the problem was that they were too loud . We were worried that the noise of the 12 bore LG shells might alert the marauder and prevent it from coming towards our direction , in order to feed on the bait . My BRNO .22 LR did not have the proper stopping power to guarantee us a dead wild dog , but it had the advantage of producing barely any perceptible noise . Also , as long as shot placement was extremely critical , a 40 grain .22 calibre solid bullet would be enough to take out the wild dogs .

Joy took my BRNO .22 LR and shouldered it . Taking aim at the head of an oncoming wild dog , he fired . The nonchalant pop of the .22 LR was followed by a wild dog dropping dead , on the spot . As the other wild dogs gathered around the dead animal to look at it , Joy cycled the bolt of the .22 LR and shot a second wild dog in the side of the head . It dropped dead , on the spot . Joy cycled the bolt of the .22 LR once more and fired a shot at the head of a third wild dog . The 40 grain .22 calibre solid lead bullet struck the animal behind the ear and it went down , too . By now , the final three surviving wild dogs had begun to get spooked by seeing three members of their pack drop dead . They bolted away from the area as fast as their legs could carry them .

I climbed down the tree blind and dragged the corpses of the three wild dogs towards a nearby swamp , where I promptly dumped them into the water . The sun had now begun to set . It was time to wait for the marauder .

Left to right : Winchester Super Double X Magnum 2 3/4 inch SG shell ( 12 copper plated slugs ) , Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shell ( eight antimony hardened slugs) , locally reloaded LG shell ( six antimony hardened slugs)

Note : Despite being the same length as the Eley Alphamax LG shell , the local product holds two less slugs , because it uses a fold crimp while the Eley Alphamax LG shell uses a roll crimp .

Joy sitting on top of a tree blind , holding the author’s BRNO .22 LR bolt action rifle . October 6 , 1976

 

[Professor Mawla]

Joy and I waited on the tree blind for the entire night . There was pin drop silence , barring the occasional call of an owl or a fox in the distance .

But it was only around 10:30 PM , that we began to hear something moving in the bushes . Our eyes glued to the folding plastic table and it’s contents , we noticed a large dark feline silhouette slowly coming out of the bushes . Just by seeing the general shape of the animal , we knew at once that it was a cheetah . And the odds of more than one cheetah traveling through this particular route were nigh unlikely . Thus ; we were virtually certain that the cheetah which we were seeing before us was actually none other than the marauder .

The cheetah began to sniff the smell of the raw human meat and slowly drew closer to the folding table . I shouldered my Laurona 12 bore and knew that I had to time my shots perfectly if I hoped to bring the marauder down quickly . The marauder placed it’s fore paws on the edge of the table in order to haul itself up and I instantly switched on the six cell torchlight , shining the light into the cheetah’s eyes . The temporarily blinded animal looked up at the source of light , in confusion . I pulled both the triggers of my Laurona 12 bore , taking care to aim at the marauder’s chest . The two gunshots loudly echoed through the forest , as the concentrated charge of 16 LG slugs caught the cheetah full on in the chest ( the muscles of which were very relaxed as the cheetah had been forced to raise it’s fore paws up in order to climb on top of the folding table ) . The animal roared in pain , dropping to the ground and springing back onto it’s feet at the very next moment . I hurriedly removed two more Eley Alphamax LG shells from my breast pocket , opened the breech of my Laurona 12 bore and loaded the fresh ammunition into the chambers before closing the breech shut . I was certain that I would be needing to give the marauder a few more shots to take it down . However , this need never materialized . For in the very next moment , the marauder simply dropped to the ground . And did not even twitch .

Cautiously staring at the motionless animal for two entire minutes , Joy and I finally climbed down the tree blind . We cautiously approached the fallen cheetah and I poked it in the left eye with the muzzles of my Laurona 12 bore . It really was dead .

The author sitting near the scourge of Habiganj . October 6 , 1976

 

[R.M.C.]

Damn Professor I like it!!!

 

[R.M.C.]

Great story!!! You must have a pretty strong stomach!!!! Thanks for sharing Professor!!

 

[Professor Mawla]

When the dead marauder was dissected at the head office of the Habiganj Forest Guards , we were easily able to understand why the cheetah had turned into a marauder . It was a large male cheetah and the heaviest one that I had ever shot or ever seen . He weighed 71 kilograms and he had a porcupine quill embedded in one of his testicles . No doubt , the excruciating amount of pain caused by the porcupine quill rupturing his testicle was what had made him turn into a marauder .The concentrated charge of 16 LG pellets from my Laurona 12 bore at point blank range , had completely torn through the entire heart of the cheetah .

When I received the 600 Taka reward money , I let Joy keep 300 Taka . Despite his arguments that I deserved to keep the entire money , I strongly felt that I could not have successfully. taken out this marauder so easily and quickly without Joy’s assistance . I kept 200 Taka for a rainy day and used 100 Taka to get one of my traveling military friends to bring me back two dozen more Eley Alphamax LG shells from his next foreign trip .

The End

 

[Professor Mawla]

I truly hope that my relating of this incident has brought some degree of enjoyment to a few of the people on these forums . If you all have enjoyed reading it , then I can share one or two more over the next few days .

 

[Professor Mawla]

Great story!!! You must have a pretty strong stomach!!!! Thanks for sharing Professor!!

@R.M.C.
Thank you very much . I am happy to hear that you have enjoyed this article .

 

[R.M.C.]

Hell I don't blame him for being snippy considering what he had in his privates!!! Thanks again for the wonderful story!!!

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Good story Professor. That quill would have caused me to change my diet too. Lucky you caught the wild dogs in time before the ruined the bait.

 

[Professor Mawla]

Good story Professor. That quill would have caused me to change my diet too. Lucky you caught the wild dogs in time before the ruined the bait.

@Wyatt Smith
Thank you so much . When preparing bait for cheetahs , it is essential to prevent other animals ( such as wild dogs , foxes , vultures or weasels ) from harming the bait . It greatly reduces your chances of being able to successfully lure the cheetah towards you .

 

[Major Khan]

Anayeth , this is absolutely brilliantly written ... As always , my young friend . Out of all of us , you have had the most successful track record in using buckshot to lay low forest panthers .

Out of curiosity , how many of these old Eley Alphamax LG cartridges do you still have in stock ? I used to exclusively use Eley Alphamax AAA cartridges until Eley discontinued them and my stock got exhausted . Now , I use Winchester Australia 2.75 inch 32 gram AAA cartridges .

 

[Professor Mawla]

Anayeth , this is absolutely brilliantly written ... As always , my young friend . Out of all of us , you have had the most successful track record in using buckshot to lay low forest panthers .

Out of curiosity , how many of these old Eley Alphamax LG cartridges do you still have in stock ? I used to exclusively use Eley Alphamax AAA cartridges until Eley discontinued them and my stock got exhausted . Now , I use Winchester Australia 2.75 inch 32 gram AAA cartridges .

@Major Khan Sir
Thank you so much . I still have 20 Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shells in my inventory .

I will probably run out of them by the end of next year , considering how many Axis deer , barking deer and wild boars I hunt annually by having beats arranged .

 

[Major Khan]

@Major Khan Sir
Thank you so much . I still have 20 Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shells in my inventory .
View attachment 364114
I will probably run out of them by the end of next year , considering how many Axis deer , barking deer and wild boars I hunt annually by having beats arranged .

After you expend all of them , bring me the empty cartridge cases ! They shall be ideal as hulls for my hand loaded spherical ball cartridges . One can never have too many " High Brass " 12 Bore cartridge cases .

 

[Major Khan]

Hell I don't blame him for being snippy considering what he had in his privates!!! Thanks again for the wonderful story!!!

Of all the man eating forest panthers which I have shot in the last 55 years , RMC ... Around 35 % of them had porcupine quills embedded in some of their sensitive regions ( Such as as an eye , under the jaw or even the stomach ) . Porcupine quills have a tendency to drive these brutes insane with the pain . And that causes them to develop a palate for the flesh of man . Nature is 1 cruel mistress.

 

[R.M.C.]

She sure is Major!!! I shoot every porcupine I come across because I have dogs

 

[Newboomer]

Fascinating account, Professor, however grisly by our Western standards. Customs vary with the times and locale and one uses whatever is effective. Keep the stories coming.

 

[Professor Mawla]

Fascinating account, Professor, however grisly by our Western standards. Customs vary with the times and locale and one uses whatever is effective. Keep the stories coming.

@Newboomer
Thank you very much . Today , marauding cheetahs and Royal Bengal tigers in Bangladesh are hunted by baiting them with chemical agents which emulate the smell of human corpses . So human corpses are no longer used as bait . To the best of my knowledge , the last time a human corpse was used as bait to lure in a marauder ; was in 1984 . The marauder was a Royal Bengal tiger .